Wednesday, January 15, 2014

So, Mister Growl wasn’t updated for a while, and this is why: Writing assignments from Decibel Magazine, Kung Fu Breakfast, About.com Heavy Metal, and Girls & Corpses Magazine were all released in the last 2 weeks. Here are two issues of Kung Fu Breakfast with great material from their roster of inspired, unstable artists:

ISSUE #15 - THE STAR WARS CHRISTMAS REDUX

First of all, look at that amazing cover. That’s the sort of art that makes it easy to admit I was an obsessive Star Wars fan through about ninth grade, when I stumbled into Suffocation, Skinless, and Cannibal Corpse. I have a love sonnet written from the point of Salacious Crumb, Jabba’s cackling enslaved jester, along with a little drawing of the same character. There’s great stuff in this issue, especially for sci-fi fans. Does include nudity. Hopefully that makes you want to download it more.

I was concerned I wouldn’t have much inspiration for this one (being an American with ties to only Scottish and Irish ancestry that are several generations past), but I wrote a story of the tragic life of a prison tattoo artist called “Ouroboros.” There’s a beautiful featured piece from Jess Towne, as well as superlative work from Jay Kantor, Caitlin Anne, and Robert Gullie, in his KFB debut. I must warn that there’s nudity and fetish photography included, because it bothers some people to be surprised by that stuff.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Hey, strangers! Decibel Magazine issue #112 has been out for a few weeks, and #113 will ship out to subscribers in 7-10 days. All you really need to know is this: LEMMY. J. Bennett does an amazing feature on the iconic frontman, and learns us all something important about blueberries -- there is such a thing as too many. Along with the “20 Most Anticipated Albums of 2014,” a Hall of Fame piece on Opeth’s Blackwater Park, and a great “Call & Response” from Mogwai vocalist Stuart Braithewaite. After all that, I have a few pieces in there cluttering the pages as well:

Page 32: Satan’s Wrath - Aeon’s of Satan’s Reign profile. Stamos and Danazaglou gave me awesomely intense answers in an interview that skewered modern metal, ultra-serious metal minions, and flip-flops. The album’s fun as hell, even though it’s “the same shit” as Galloping Blasphemy, according to Danazaglou.

Page 83: Grave - Morbid Ascent review. An EP for completists, it still has some great, filthy death metal. Sliced off a few points for a mediocre cover of Satyricon’s “Possessed,” but overall this should fulfill the blood lust of rabid fans of the Swedish death merchants. I gave it 8/10.

Page 83: Great Falls - Accidents Grotesque review. A challenging, noisy, and ultimately invigorating release. If you like Dillinger Escape Plan and Jesus Lizard, give this menace a shot. Plus, Decibel scribe Shane Mehling plays bass, and he runs the crucial “Needle Exchange” column, making it a mandatory feature in each issue. I gave it 7/10.